Monday, January 6, 2014

Settling Into The Mundane

Winds

Air and Water Temperatures
Since our arrival here in Clearwater, I have had some difficulty adjusting to the fact that we don’t have to move.  We don’t need to be looking ahead to the next anchorage, or the route and bridges between here and there… We don’t need to worry about where to find provisions or do laundry or get fuel and water…  We can relax and put down some roots for a little while.  It’s the most odd sensation, almost as if we’ve forgotten how!

Between bouts of cold weather, we have been spending our days exploring our new surroundings. We’ve had two really big Norther’s, which the locals assure us are freak incidents and not the norm.
















"OUR" Beach
After the winds pass and the temperatures climb to acceptable levels, we take our bicycles and explore.  We were surprised to find the most wonderful beach, literally at our doorstep.  















A ride along the promenade has us marveling at all the touristy stuff and the people and the gorgeous white sand.  There is a LOT of money changing hands along these streets.  We shift gears from secluded-anchorage-mode to being-in-the-middle-of-it-all mode.

Once again, we are struck with the realization that if we weren’t on a boat, we probably couldn’t afford to BE here!  

Our first afternoon outing revealed the talents of a young street performer.  We happened upon him in his top hat just as we were preparing to leave the promenade.




















He was so cute and funny, we stayed to watch.  Very soon into his show I was prompting Bruce to get his tip money ready...

He juggled all kinds of things then turned to playing with fire.

All while balancing atop a unicycle.

Hey, I've gotta get my tip's worth!!!

Jon, AKA the Flaming Ginger.... is a member of the Seven City Spinners out of Virginia Beach, VA.



















Me, Cathy, Debbie and Renee
The next big thing was our third WWS Meet-Up.  I am a part of a Facebook group called Women Who Sail.  The group is over 1500 strong and has members all over the world who share the common bond of either having lived aboard, currently live aboard, or have dreams of living aboard and cruising sailboats.  I make it a point to try to find others from the group in every port we visit, and was able to put together a fun evening here in Clearwater.  

We had a happy hour on our boat and were able to squeeze four other WWS ladies with their respective mates for a fun filled afternoon.  Half of the crowd then walked to a local restaurant, Frenchies Original for dinner. It’s like having ready made friends just about everywhere we go!  

My daughter lives near Clearwater, which is why we are here for a month.  We haven’t seen her since June and are getting as much Mother/Daughter time in as we can.  We’ve been treated to an endless round of dinners and she has taken us around in her car so that we can get in some some shopping and sightseeing.  It has been so good seeing her and being reminded of just how awesome she is!  

But it hasn’t all been fun and social engagements…  We have some issues that we must address.  Bruce and I sat down and made a list of all the things we would like to get fixed or finished while we’re here.  The list is daunting and is made doubly so when you consider all of the social engagements in as well.  Today, we took a day off from play and got some work done.

So we are attempting to get done the mundane chores that we must, while living a life that is FAR from mundane by all standards!

4 comments:

  1. Yea...that the have to do part not the fun part, How do you rate the marina you are in?

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    1. So far we like this marina. The people who run it are very nice. The wi-fi is good. The docks are fixed so the tide is a bit of a challenge getting on and off the boat. The restrooms are fine. There is a boat that comes to do the pump out on Wednesdays for FREE! Like that! There is fuel here. It's in the middle of things, which is a good thing and a bad thing. It's a change and I'm sure we'll be ready to get back out into the wild when the weather warms up.

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  2. I wish someone would grab my butt and give me money :)

    Mark

    Mark and Cindy - s/v Cream Puff

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